


it’s the thought that counts

by when_the_planets_align



Category: RWBY
Genre: Baking, Family Dynamics, Gen, Team as Family, doesn’t go too hot, jaune and nora attempt to bake cookies for ren, oscar watches in amusement, ren loves his team more than anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:55:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28325682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/when_the_planets_align/pseuds/when_the_planets_align
Summary: Ren wakes up one morning in the winter to find himself alone in bed. Sounds from the kitchen tell him where everyone is. He goes to investigate, expecting the worst. He wasn’t prepared for what was actually happening.
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Oscar Pine & Lie Ren & Nora Valkyrie
Comments: 9
Kudos: 37
Collections: JNPR Secret Santa 2020





	it’s the thought that counts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pastelcandies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastelcandies/gifts).



> this is a secret santa for someone on the jnpr discord server. cinna i hope you liked this and sorry if it’s a little rushed 🥺

The morning light was muddled by the overcast skies, making the sunlight that shone in through the half-open blinds dim. Ren opened his eyes in the dark room to find himself alone in his bed, the sheets all crumpled at the end and hanging off the side. He slowly rose up on his elbows, stifling a yawn and blinking his eyes open. What time was it? He pinpointed the clock in their room, sitting on the dresser, and after a few moments of blinking the blurriness out of his eyes, he saw it was 10:37 a.m. 

That startled him awake. 10:37 in the morning? What? Why was he asleep that late? Did Nora not wake him up? Speaking of Nora, where was she and Jaune? Why hadn’t one of them woken him up sooner? Sure, it was a day off for him and his team, but they usually never let him sleep this late. 

His confusion was only made worse when he heard hushed, angry voices reigning from the kitchen. He sighed, a dread beginning to creep into his stomach. Arguing in the kitchen? He had a 50/50 chance of it not being anything related to, well, anything that happens in a kitchen. He got up and threw on a sweater and changed into a pair of grey sweatpants. Time to investigate. 

“No, no, no, he doesn’t like that. There has to be some chocolate in it!” Nora was waving her arms around wildly, almost hitting Jaune smack in the head. Oscar watched from his seat at the kitchen counter, sipping his tea in interest. He was smart, not getting involved in… whatever was happening.

“Nora, for the last time, the recipe doesn’t call for chocolate! If we put some in, it’ll mess up the whole batch! Why didn’t you tell me before he liked chocolate? We could’ve found a recipe that actually calls for the ingredient!” Jaune slapped a hand to his face and dramatically stretched his skin as he pulled his hand down, groaning.

Oscar rolled his eyes and they found their way to Ren’s, and when they did, Oscar nearly spat his drink all across the counter. Regaining his posture, he looked to Jaune and Nora, who were still bickering about the chocolate. He shrugged, placing the mug of tea to his lips.

“Morning, Ren,” he called nonchalantly, taking a sip. Jaune and Nora froze, and in an almost comical fashion, slowly turned their heads to find Ren standing in the doorway of the kitchen, a small smile playing on his lips. 

“Good morning,” he replied, not moving from his spot. He quickly scanned the kitchen - it wasn’t too much of a mess, which made him happy. In fact, he was almost impressed by what he saw. Turns out he didn’t have to worry too much about a potential kitchen disaster like he was half prepared for. So, one of his questions was answered, but now he had more. “What… are you guys doing?”

“Nothing!”  
“Making cookies for you!”

“Dude!” Nora glared at Jaune before kicking him in the leg. He whimpered as the two looked back at Ren sheepishly. He stood there in shock, now with even more questions.

“You’re making… cookies?” He scanned the materials they had out - sugar, flour, and butter were some, among other things - and decided that yes, they were indeed attempting to bake cookies of some sort.

“You don’t even have the oven on.”

Jaune and Nora’s eyes widened, and they turned to find the oven still showcasing the time of day - 10:43 - rather than the temperature of the oven. Nora let out a long, exaggerated groan, throwing her head back in frustration.

“Jaune, I thought I told you to set the oven to 350!” She whined, holding his name out.

“I was going to! But then you told me to get the milk from the fridge and I got distracted!” He whined back, looking about ready to pound his head into a wall. Oscar was trying desperately not to burst out laughing from his seat at the kitchen counter, typing away at his scroll - probably telling Ruby about the fiasco going down in front of him.

Ren sighed and made his way over to his teammates. He placed his hands on each of their backs as he stood between them in a gesture of comfort. 

“Alright, alright, let’s calm down. What kinds of cookies are you even making? And why?” He spoke gently as he rubbed small circles into their backs, watching as they both eased up just a little. Jaune sighed, accepting his apparent defeat.

“We were gonna make a small batch of sugar cookies, for you. Obviously, it’s not really going according to plan,” as he spoke, he fiddled with a measuring spoon in his hands.

“So much for it being a surprise,” Nora grumbled beneath her breath, head turned away and looking out the kitchen window. Jaune sighed once again, dropping the measuring spoon in the process. Oscar stared in his mug, swirling the liquid around inside of it.

“Wait… so, you guys are trying to make cookies… to surprise me,” Ren smiled at that, a soft giddy feeling forming in his stomach. He quickly frowned, though. “But why?”

Nora huffed slowly, turning back to face Ren, “We saw that you weren’t exactly feeling… well, good. And, well, it’s almost winter - well, no, winter’s basically already here, and we just…” she trailed off, rubbing her neck as she tried to find her words, but failed.

“We thought we’d bake something sweet for you, since, y’know, you’re always baking things for us,” Jaune picked up where Nora left off, and smiled sheepishly towards him.

Ren tried to find the right words to respond, but came up short. As much as he’d accepted the fact that his team cared for him and loved him to the ends of the earth, it still came as a surprise when they did things like this. 

“How… long have you all been up?” He decided to ask instead. Looking at all three of them, he could see they all sported eye bags of different degrees (Jaune with the worst, as he always had eye bags under his eyes, no matter how much sleep he got, Nora’s were visible due to her pale skin, and Oscar’s were a little hard to catch, but they were there nonetheless). 

“Oh, uh, y’know… about five a.m.?” Nora tried to act casual about it, but from the way she shrunk back against the counter, Ren could tell even she was appalled by just how much time they’ve spent in the kitchen attempting to bake cookies. 

Ren merely chuckled while shaking his head. “You guys didn’t have to do this for me, you know. If you had told me you wanted to do something nice for me, we could’ve just spent the day together. That would’ve been more than enough for me,” he spoke softly, a fondness evident in his voice. 

Jaune sighed, “Yeah, we know. But like we said, we wanted it to be a surprise.”

“We also wanted it to be in-season,” Nora huffed, crossing her arms as she stared at the floor. Oscar still hadn’t said anything, but he leaned on the counter with his elbows, face cupped in both his hands. All three of them looked utterly defeated. 

Ren couldn’t have that. He couldn’t have his team, his family, upset over this, especially when Ren was about to cry with how happy this all made him. Sure, it hadn’t gone as well as they had hoped, but it was the thought that counted, right? Ren sure believed that. 

“Guys, please. Don’t be upset over this. You did surprise me, you know. I think it’s really sweet of you to attempt to bake me something, especially when both of you are… well, not very good bakers,” he laughed, beginning to feel tears swell at the back of his eyes. The initial shock of everything was beginning to wear off, and all his emotions were now starting to find their way to the surface. 

Nora noticed, and gasped as her arms found their way around his torso. Jaune quickly followed suit, as he wrapped his arms around him and Nora from his backside. Oscar scrambled out of his seat and squeezed his way in between the two, wrapping both his arms around Ren. 

Ren didn’t hold back. He let his tears flow down his face, and laughed. It truly was the most wonderful feeling, knowing that you were loved. 

Pulling away, he sucked in a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out slowly. 

“Hey, I have an idea,” his eyes brightened and the others waited for him to continue with equal high hopes. “Why don’t we bake cookies together? All four of us. You’ve succeeded in surprising me, yet you didn’t succeed in actually baking the cookies.” Oscar snorted at that, while Nora crossed her arms and Jaune chuckled slightly in embarrassment. 

No one argued against it, though. It wasn’t long before Ren was instructing everyone on what to get out (since apparently Jaune and Nora managed to get out the wrong ingredients or just flat out not get out certain ingredients), assigning tasks to everyone, and even finding some additional recipes to bake. 

Ren was happy, he decided. Happy to spend time with his team, the people he loved most. He didn’t catch it, but the other three were more than relieved to see him laughing while they spent the day in the kitchen.

It was a long time before they finished up their final batch of cookies, and all four of them flopped down on the couch in exhaustion, Jaune, Nora, and Oscar more so than Ren. It was only a few minutes before the three were wiped out, all curled up against each other and snoring softly. 

Ren sighed in content, feeling himself begin to slip off into a slumber. He held Nora close, who held Oscar to her own chest while also having an arm wrapped around Ren’s waist, while Ren’s head was tucked under Jaune’s chin. He spared himself a few moments to just feel the love they had for him, and to accept the unconditional love he held for them in turn. With the scent of freshly baked cookies now stored away in the cabinet and the sound of softly sleeping breaths, he joined his team in the careful embrace of sleep.


End file.
